A couple weeks ago, my boyfriend & I decided to finally rent books from our local library...and man, I've been missing out! While he was looking for construction & home building books, I was 2 meters to his left discovering a whole section of beauty/skin/fitness/fashion books! Above, is one of the three books I brought home to read this month. It has loads of tips and awesome facts. It's a little old, as it was published in 2001, but there's no doubt that it still holds it's credibility to what's true today.
In this month's "Tips & Tricks" blog, I am going to share some material I learned about skin! Skin is a huge part of my beauty routine, mainly because I've always always
always had troubled skin. I was born with thin skin so without makeup, it's quite easy to see the veins on my face. Around the age of 10, I developed eczema on my arms, inside my elbows. At age 13, my eczema spread to my cheeks and it was very severe...and traumatizing as a kid. Many treatments later, a doctor finally prescribed me Elocom which miraculously cleared my eczema in 2 days! Three days later, I started developing acne which got the best of me until I was 20 and then went on a birth control, which stopped the breakouts by controlling the oil glands...my skin doc prescribed Diane35 specifically because it's best for acne. Currently, at age 23, my skin is clear! I just have a little dryness during the colder seasons, a few acne scars and eczema breakouts on the cheeks every once in awhile...all of which I can deal with and cover up!
Now that I finally have good skin, I want to keep it that way and continuously improve my skin. What I really want is "glowing" skin like Kate Hudson's or Jennifer Aniston's - btw, did you guys hear that she's pregnant?! I saw it on OK! magazine today and bought the issue, just haven't had the time to read it yet.
Anyways, let's get on with my tips & tricks for this month! :)
How to preserve your skin:
- stay out of the sun & always wear sunscreen
- don't smoke
- avoid heavy drinking (1 glass of wine a day is okay)
- give yourself between 7-9 hrs sleep a night and avoid "bed wrinkles" from your pillow or sheets
- avoid stress
- watch your diet, don't eat junk food
- avoid rough skin treatments
- picking pimples
- using overly hot water
- using harsh skin products
Eye Creams:
- I never used to believe in eye creams until I started selling Usana products and learned more about them. Although I don't have bags under my eyes, dark circles or crows feet, I learned that it's still great to use it now for prevention! It also helps moisturize the skin around my eyes properly instead of using face lotions that are too harsh. Eye creams are lighter in texture so that they don't harm your eye's delicate tissue. Many of them also help with specific things like tightening the skin and treating puffiness. The author of the above book, Stephanie Pedersen, says she no longer uses eye cream because as long as your face cream doesn't contain harsh ingredients that can irritate, it's okay...but in her case, she only used eye cream to moisturize around the eyes. Overall, it's up to you and your needs! If your eyes tend to get puffy, develop dark circles or show crows feet, I'd recommend finding an eye cream suitable to treat that. If you just need something to moisturize around the eye, your daily face lotion could be gentle enough to do the trick!
Recipes for home blemish treatments:
- Mix 1/2 teaspoons of yeast with a few drops of warm water to make a paste. Smooth over pimple and rinse off after 20-60min. Use once a day.
- Mix 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda with a few drops of warm water to form a paste. Smooth over pimple and rinse off after 20-60min. Use once a day.
- Dab a drop of tea-tree oil on pimples up to 2x a day. Test a tiny patch on your forearm 48 hrs prior to ensure it doesn't irritate skin.
Ways to improve complexion:
- Oranges (vitamin C) are a good source of citric acid, which promotes clear & healthy complexion
- Green tea extra may shrink precancerous skin lesions
- Grape-seed extract (procyanidolic oligomers) strengthens capillary walls, reduce inflammation, and act as antioxidants on skin
- Use masks regularly
Types of masks:
- Clay & Mud masks (Recommend Boscia Clarifying Detox Mask)
- Oily & Normal skin types
- Use 1-2x weekly
- Contains special type of purified mud or clay
- Peel-off masks (probably too harsh for my super sensitive skin)
- Oily, Normal & Dry skin types
- Use 1-2x weekly
- Gel formula
- Can severely irritate sensitive/thin skin
- Epidermal treatment masks (want to try the Sephora brand ones)
- All skin types
- Use 1-3x weekly
- Face-shaped sheets infused w/ active ingredients such as antioxidants, moisturizers or alpha hydroxy acids
- Modeled after epidermal patches, such as the ones used to deliver nicotine to smokers
- Non-hardening masks (Recommend Usana's Nutritious Creme Masque)
- Creamy formula for Normal & Dry skins
- Gel formula for Sensitive & Irritated skins
- Can be used daily
- Tip: In the shower, cleanse skin and apply mask before regular shower routine. This allows steam to open up pores. Rinse masks off after 5 minutes.
Well, I hope I've provided you with some tips & tricks that you plan on trying out! Half of the above material has improved my skin, and the other half are things that I want to try out :)
What are some skin-related tips & tricks that you swear by? I'm looking for ways to solve my dry, flaky skin issue. I exfoliate w/ St Ives microdermabrasion scrub and use really great day & night moisturizers. I suppose I could start drinking more water...but what else??
Be sure to enter my Lashes & Lips giveaway before you leave my page! Btw, if you haven't already noticed, I decided to change my giveaway deadline to Sunday, April 25th. I figured that I might as well because the entries have slowed down and I will be going to the States on the following weekend, which gives me a perfect opportunity to ship from the States (so much cheaper). Smart, right? ;) haha Anyways, be sure to spread the word about my giveaway because it's almost over!
Alright, I'm off to work out for an hour (in a fitness competition w/ my friends & family) and then wrap up my day with a nice mask treatment. Ciao for now!
